Slice
"This isd't helbig," Vince said, lifting
his head and the towel as well. "Dow I just feel hot add sick." His eyes looked
tired, his face was flushed, and his dark, wavy hair was damp from steam.
Eric came
over and ran a hand up and down Vince's back. He eased Vince back over and
flipped the towel down. "Well it's not going to help if you keep stopping."
With his
head positioned over the bowl of hot water and eucalyptus, and the towel
covering his head and shoulders all the way down to the counter, Vince breathed
in the steam a few more times. Then he bent further forward. "hahKSHHH!" He lifted his head and threw back the
towel. Grabbing one of the balled-up tissues that littered the counter, he
rubbed at his nose. "I'b dode. This isd't
workig." He coughed and shook his head, and
Eric patted his back again.
"Your eggs
are ready anyway," Drama announced, pulling the skillet from the stove and
scraping a spatula against it to push the scrambled eggs onto a plate. He
walked four feet to the left and placed the plate in front of Vince. "There you
go, just like Mom used to make when we were sick. Well, almost."
Vince
stared down at them a moment, then shook his head. "I'b dot hugry adybore."
He ran a hand through his curls of brown hair and coughed.
"I'll take
'em!" Turtle called from the couch. He pulled himself
up off his back and trudged over in sweats and bare feet.
Vince
pulled his arm off the counter and motioned for the other man to help himself,
though he looked rather flatly at his friend as the offer was accepted. "Seems fair. You give me your cold, I give you my lunch."
Turtle
sniffed a few times, indicating that he was still stuffed up. Vince sniffed
once, showing he was much worse off. Turtle shrugged. "Yeah,
all right. You win. Hey, how many times do I gotta
say I'm sorry?" He stuck a fork in the plate and stabbed at the eggs.
"Ode bore
would be dice," said Vince, smiling.
Turtle
sighed and swallowed a mouthful of eggs. "I'm sorry that fates completely
beyond my control saw fit for you to catch my cold. I'm sorry I got sick and
crashed on the couch for three fucking days instead of confining myself to my
bedroom like a shut-in. I'm sorry I used the kitchen to wash my hands fifty
times a day so you wouldn't get sick and you still did." He coughed a couple
times and sighed. "But I am sorry you got sick."
Vince
returned his apologetic expression with a weak smile and nod of forgiveness. He
rubbed at his nose a few times with another balled-up tissue. Eric shoved the
box of tissues at him.
Turtle took
another bite, nodding at the plate of eggs. "These are fantastic, Drama. What
did you put in them?" He pointed the fork repeatedly at the plate as he chewed
and swallowed.
"Thanks,"
Johnny grinned with pride and straightened up, standing even taller than normal.
"Actually, I used some slightly different seasonings this time. I thought with
a little more paprika--"
"How come
you never made me eggs when I was sick?" Turtle interrupted, taking another
forkful. He couldn't really care less what was in them.
"Cause you
demanded things when you were sick, Turtle. Which kinda
got on our nerves and made us inclined not to get you anything," Eric laughed.
Then he leaned back and called out in his best impression, "Get me a drink... get
me more pills... knock me out..."
Drama
laughed and nodded in agreement.
"I don't
sound like that," Turtle grumbled, eating more.
"Yeah,"
Drama said, still laughing. "You do, Man."
Turtle made
a face at him.
Vincent was
far removed from the conversation by that point in time. "hahKSHHH! KCHhhhhhh! Ughh! Sniff! Guys, will you quit it for just
a few minutes, please?" He hung his head and rubbed hard at his forehead.
"Sorry," Eric said quickly, going for the
tissues and pills at once. He stuffed a tissue in Vince's hand, then tapped two aspirin out of the jar. He filled up a glass
with filtered tap water and then handed it all to Vince.
Vince
swallowed the pills without complaint and coughed a few times between gulps of
water. Eric patted his back. "Tell be the truth. I'b
dot godda bake it out to the barty
todight, ab I?"
No one
really wanted to tell Vince he wouldn't. Their silence was enough to do that, however.
Vince
sighed and shook his head. Coughing a few times, he looked a bit faint and as
though he didn't really want to be standing around talking any more. He leaned
forward, elbows and lower arms on the counter. "Thig
I'd better go to bed. Try to sleeb this off."
"You want
to crash here on the couch?" Turtle offered, leaning against the back of the
couch as he scraped the last few bites of egg off the plate.
Shrugging,
Vince looked over at the couch Eric patted his back again, this time in comfort
not to help the coughs. "Go on. Go lie down. We'll put on a movie and keep you
company." Taking Eric's advice, as usual, Vince went straight for the couch. He
curled up on two-thirds of it, and Turtle sat down on the rest. Turtle threw the
blanket he'd been using over Vince. Vince hugged it closer around himself. Eric
brought over the tissue box, while Drama stayed in the kitchen for a few
minutes to clean up.
Vince
smiled slightly as Eric sat down in the armchair and tossed the tissues over.
Then Eric flipped through channels until he found something that looked
interesting on one of the HBO channels. Vince looked at the screen a few then
closed his eyes, needing to sneeze again. "hahKShhhh! KISHHHH! Ahhh... hah-KShhhhh!" Pulling a few tissues out of the
box, Vince sniffled heavily a few times. Feeling a little better, he opened his
eyes again. "So do you thig I'll feel better id tibe for that idterview this weeked?"
"Oh
absolutely," Eric said in a heartbeat.
Turtle
nodded in agreement and made a similar comment. But he reached over to the
tissue box as well and took out a few. His breathing was deep and heavy, panting.
"hahhh..." He raised the tissues and closed his
eyes, playing up the sneeze a little more than was needed. "hahh-Shooo!" It snapped him forward and he rubbed
his nose, groaning dramatically. While bent forward, he placed the empty plate
and fork onto the coffee table in front of him. Then he sat back up.
Vince eyed
him suspiciously. "Yeah, but you're still sdeezig a
little add you've beed sick for a week dow."
Drama dried
his hands and tossed down a dish towel. He headed over to the couch, leaning over
the back and patting his brother through the blanket. "Don't be so worried. You'll
be fine. And if you're not, I'd be happy to fill in for you. Interview, photo
shoot, whatever."
Vince
chuckled. "Hobe that wod't be decessary,
but thags. Ari would kill
be if I bissed this ode. Add Shauda,
too... uhhh," he groaned. He quickly reached for
more tissues. "hehhhKFShhh! ahhhKUHShhhhh! Dab."
"Get some
sleep, Man," Eric told him. "We'll make sure you get better in time for the
interview. And that date you have Saturday, too."
Nodding,
Vince closed his eyes. "So lodg as you dod't try that bowl of steab thig agaid. So did't work."
"Would have
worked if you'd just given it a shot," Eric insisted. Vince opened an eye and
shot him a look. Eric laughed. "Okay, okay. We'll just stick to pills and sleep."
"And you're
going to eat something good," Drama insisted, looking down at him from behind.
Both eyes
closed, a tissue clutched in his hand, and a good movie playing on the
television, Vince sighed deeply and relaxed. "Thags guys." He smiled, glad to have them all there
and looking after him. Even Turtle, who was pulling at the end of the blanket
in order to share it now.